RAWALPINDI – The Pakistan Army has paid homage to Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed, the second recipient of Nishan-e-Haider, on his 63rd martyrdom anniversary.
Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Major General Babar Iftikhar Saturday shared a tweet in this regard. “Nation salutes Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed; the second recipient of Nishan-e-Haider, on his 63rd martyrdom anniversary,” the tweet reads.
Nation salutes Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed; second recipient of Nishan-e-Haider, on his 63rd martyrdom anniversary. His fortitude, determination and valour remain hallmarks of a soldier who dares to fulfil his mission at all costs.#OurMartyrsOurHeroes
— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) August 7, 2021
It further added, “His fortitude, determination and valour remain hallmarks of a soldier who dares to fulfil his mission at all costs.”
Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed was born in Hoshiarpur in 1914 and commissioned in the 16 Punjab regiment in 1943. After several instructional and command appointments in his own Battalion, he was posted to the East Pakistan Rifles in 1958 as a Company Commander.
During the appointment, he encircled an illegal Indian post – which violated the internationally recognized boundary between the two countries – in the Lakshmipur area.
The enemy opened fire when the major Tufail group was about fifteen yards from the bunker; he came under heavy fire and got three bullets in his stomach. Despite the shower of blood from his stomach, he kept moving forward and silenced the Indian machine guns with a grenade.
Major Tufail destroyed another gun too with a well-aimed grenade. During the hand-to-hand encounter that followed, he noticed the commander of the Indian post moving silently to attack one of his men.
Though fatally wounded, Major Tufail crawled towards the enemy commander. He stretched out one of his legs and as the enemy stumbled he hit him in the face with his steel helmet, thus saving his troop. Major continued directing the operation until the enemy was driven out leaving behind four dead and three prisoners.
Due to loss of blood, Major Tufail fell on the ground, and then got up and said to his officer “I have completed my duty, the enemy is on the run”.
Pakistan s first Nishan-e-Haider recipient remembered on martyrdom anniversary
The valiant officer was taken to hospital but he later succumbed to the fatal injuries the same day. He was awarded Nishan-e-Haider, Pakistan s highest military award for his courage and was buried in Burewala.
Nishan-e-Haider is conferred upon soldiers who perform acts of great heroism in circumstances of extreme danger, or to those who demonstrate the bravery of the highest order or devotion to the country in the presence of the enemy.
